Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
California Plans To Permanently Ban Sex-Offending Doctors From Practice
Los Angeles Times: Lawmakers Move To Tighten Restrictions On Sex-Offending Doctors
Doctors who are convicted of sexually abusing patients would be permanently banned from practicing medicine in California under a bill introduced this week by state legislators. The move comes a month after a Times investigation found that the Medical Board of California had reinstated 10 physicians since 2013 who lost their licenses for sexual misconduct. They included two doctors who abused teenage girls and one who beat two female patients when they reported him for sexually exploiting them. (Dolan, Mejia and Christensen, 1/13)
In other news from California —
San Francisco Chronicle: California’s EDD Freezes 345,000 Disability Claims To Battle Fraud
Some disabled people could get caught in the crossfire as California’s Employment Development Department battles a new wave of fraudsters. EDD has frozen 345,000 claims for disability insurance because of “suspected organized criminal elements filing false (disability insurance) claims using stolen credentials of individuals and medical or health providers,” it said in a statement Thursday. Disability insurance claims must include certification from a medical provider that the applicant has a medical issue. EDD said last month that it had seen an unusual increase in entities registering as new medical or health providers along with a rise in disability claims. (Said, 1/13)
In news from Texas, Indiana and Maine —
AP: Texas Sues Planned Parenthood Over $10M In Medicaid Payments
Texas wants Planned Parenthood to return more than $10 million in payments for low-income patients under a lawsuit filed Thursday, years after Republican leaders moved to cut off Medicaid dollars to the abortion provider. Planned Parenthood called the lawsuit “another political attack” in Texas, where most abortions have been banned since September under a new law that the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed to remain in effect. (1/13)
Indianapolis Star: Supreme Court Asked To Take Up Indiana Nursing Home Care Dispute
On the surface, the lawsuit appears pretty straightforward: An Indiana family trying to hold a nursing home accountable for alleged poor care and retaliation after they complained. But a key underlying legal issue is not so simple. And it is not specific to only this one case or Indiana. That's why a dispute that started in 2016 at a Valparaiso nursing home could end up at the U.S. Supreme Court. The stakes are potentially huge. (Evans, 1/14)
AP: Maine Considers New Screening To Protect Baby Health
Maine might begin mandating screening for a virus to try to protect the hearing and health of newborns in the state. A bill introduced on Wednesday would require screening for cytomegalovirus, which is also known as CMV. Bill sponsor Sen. Cathy Breen, a Falmouth Democrat, said the screening would be required for all newborns in the state who fail two hearing tests. (1/14)
